Gary Player passionate about health at Humana Challenge

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President Clinton shakes hands with PGA Tour golfer Gary Player at last year’s Humana Challenge at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif. Player is back this year to continue to promote health and well-being. (Rodrigo Pena/AP Images for Humana)

The 78-year-old said he does 1,300 crunches a day and squats 250 pounds. You know he’s no joke by the spread he did posing for ESPN The Magazine’s body issue last year.

Player posed in all his muscled and wrinkled glory, and he garnered more attention than Colin Kaepernick.

You want to look like him now, let alone in 30 years.

Who says former golfers aren’t athletes?

Player is a well-being ambassador for Humana, and he’s out campaigning in Palm Desert this week for the Humana Challenge.

It’s not just about the PGA Tour event, it’s about teaching and learning. Player said he learned so much during President Bill Clinton’s talk at Tuesday’s health conference that he nearly fell out of his chair.

And if you ran into him in the gym?

“I exercise every day, and I’m nearly 80,” Player said. “If you took 100 people off the street at random, I’d eat them alive as far as the gym is concerned. I exercise and work hard on my food intake. If everyone ate half of what they normally eat and walked, they’d be in better shape.”

Player wasn’t dragged into this effort, either. Player is passionate and emphatic, his voice rising when he rattles off statistics about obesity, diabetes and inactivity. He’s on a crusade to help end obesity and inspire others to exercise. He’s grateful he can use his prestigious golf background as a platform to reach people.

“I won 18 majors (nine on the Champions Tour), 165 tournaments and have had a successful life through a loan from God,” Player said in a phone interview. “My main business is designing golf courses and representing companies like Humana and traveling around the world. But my voice is listened to by 2 billion people a year, on the radio and TV and in the media. I’m preaching this. If I can help save lives, that will be greater than any golf tournament I’ve won.”

Player was at a restaurant in partnership with Humana on Monday, leaning over the work area of a chef and chatting him up about eating right. He asked him to add walnuts, raisins, red peppers, grapefruit and other things to a salad he was making.

It pains him when he’s out and about and runs into people who are overweight.

“Everybody thinks they’re going to live forever,” Player said. “People don’t think they’re going to die. It’s all this medicine we’re giving people. More people die from all the medicine than the actual disease. It comes back to money. When I see people who are overweight, I feel sad.”

He’s promoting the Charity Miles app, which encourages exercise and helping charities. You don’t have to pump iron like he does, so Player uses walking as his promoted method of exercise.

He could be a spokesman for the Humane Society, too. Player encourages folks who don’t like to walk to get a dog, so they’re forced to walk every day.

Player gets most irritated about child obesity.

“They’re sitting on their butts and sitting in front of the cotton-pickin’ computer,” Player said. “Get them outside.”

Player was also in the news last year for giving public advice to Rory McIlroy. He said he hoped McIlroy would “choose the right wife” and thought he wasn’t practicing enough. (McIlroy spent much time traveling to be with tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, to whom he recently was engaged.)

“That implies not just Rory but everyone to choose the right wife,” Player said. “I’m very happy for Rory. I’m a big fan. I’m happy he’s engaged. He knows in his heart she’s the right woman for him. I’m so happy for him. He’s so talented. It was so sad for me to see when he dropped down in the world rankings. It happens to everyone, and I know he’ll get back there. He has my full support.”